Sony is raising the subscription price for its popular PlayStation Vue online TV service, the company announced Monday morning. All four multi-channel tiers of PlayStation Vue, from Access through Ultra, have had their prices raised a flat $5 per month starting today, July 1, for all new subscribers to PlayStation Vue. Current PlayStation Vue subscribers will begin to see the $5 price increase on their first bill on or after July 31.

The new pricing for the four PlayStation Vue tiers will be $49.99 for the Access subscription, $54.99 for Core, $64.99 for Elite, and $84.99 for Ultra. Pricing for smaller channel packages including the Sports Pack, FX+, Epix Hits, and the Espanol Pack will not change.

According to Sony, the reasoning behind the price increase is due to "costs rising each year for content." Sony goes on to loosely describe its "constant evaluation" of the overall value for each subscription deal. Improvements to the service include the addition of beIN Sports and soon-to-come new channels the NHL Network and ACC Network, as well as PlayStation Vue's unique multi-view on PS4 and Apple TV as well as "conflict-free DVR."

Perhaps not coincidentally, PlayStation Vue competitor YouTube TV also recently increased the price of its subscription service. That service is now $50 standard or $55 monthly on Apple TV. YouTube TV's price increase came off the back of the addition of the much requested Discovery Network's 8 channels. PlayStation Vue's price increase seems more to be in an effort to be parity with other services' pricing rather than due to the addition of any new major content or features.

PlayStation Vue is just one of many several online TV subscription services to launch in recent years. The services grew quickly in popularity due to their affordable pricing in comparison to cable television services, which were often the only options available to many people. Since then, online TV services have grown in size and price as more channels fold into base packages and as a result, the differences between online and cable services have continued to shrink.

To PlayStation Vue's credit, it did launch at a $50 price point in 2015. But since then it has also added another tier of subscription and shifted available channels into its more expensive tiers. July's $5 price increase will be the service's first flat price increase. Subscribers disappointed by the price point certainly have a range of alternatives to consider, of course, though PlayStation Vue's value isn't any less impressive despite now costing $5 more.